Brothers Kurt and Matt describe the end to their 2018 season at Brands Hatch for the British Superbikes Championship.

To round up the season we headed down south to Kent for the final two races of the 2018 Championship at Brands Hatch. The opening free practice session of the weekend provided damp conditions as the circuit slowly dried up from the previous night’s downpour. Kurt consistently ran comfortably within the top 10, with Matt in hot pursuit in the teens. The closing stages became a game of who pitted early enough to swap to dry tyres, as the final handful of laps shifted the field around.

Both of the lads were on personal best form as they headed through FP2 chipping away at their lap times and making regular pit intervals to work with the pit crew and develop a better setting for the Sorrymate Racing R6. The final lap saw Kurt secure a lap time only 0.7 from the top 5 over the 2.4-mile-long circuit.

Saturday brought an unusually sunny forecast for this time of year, with a blue sky ready for the morning’s qualifying session. Overnight many changes were made to both bikes in a bid to keep pushing forward, knowing that the times would drop. Kurt rose to the challenge and dropped his lap time by half a second below his FP2 and previous personal best lap time, whilst Matt shaved 0.4 of a second from his. However, this was not quite enough to leave them satisfied with their grid positions, so it was back to the drawing board over dinner to discuss the next steps forward.

Race one was at our feet in no time as we lined up on the grid. As the lights went out Matt began to bully his way through those around him and Kurt had a cracking start tagging onto the front pack just shy of that top 10 spot he is set on. Unfortunately, the race was red flagged due to an incident elsewhere in the race, which meant a restart from original grid positions. As the lights went out for the second time that day, Kurt got trapped on the inside of turn 1 due to unlucky track positioning, causing him to lose momentum and drop back for the 8-lap dash. The closing stages of the race saw Kurt round up the points in 15th and Matt closely behind in 18th with yet another faster lap of the weekend. We were gutted to say the least that the restart hindered our result, but what more can be said; it’s all part of racing.

The closing race of the season went down with a storm in more ways than one. Not only did the heavens open but riders began to fall from the get-go as the lights went out. Kurt took a modest approach to the race by settling into a rhythm to begin with and then pushing on as he caught up to the group in front, making his way past several riders before hitting eject as he high sided exiting turn 4. Once his progressive tactic was ruled out, all eyes were on Matt who had a front row seat for Kurt’s crash almost running him over with another three bikes. Matt took the opposite approach to Kurt having already stormed forward past his twin brother and many others demonstrating some fantastic track craft and elbows out action during the opening stages. As we fast forward to the closing stages of the race, Matt’s tactic also proved to fall short of being flawless as he suffered a much larger high side on the final lap exiting the race from P11.

Both riders walked it off as we completed the season on a crash fest after Kurt completed 7 races on the bounce without crashing out. An unfortunate ending but despite the tough season there have been plenty of highs with many sessions battling it out for the top 5, but just fell short in the races where it counts the most.

We would like to take this time to thank everyone for reading our updates and supporting us along with every sponsor no matter how big or small. We couldn’t do it without you.

A special credit is due to the team who have grafted all year round and put in countless hours for the pride and mini victories achieved this season.

Our attention is now onto a winter of hard training to come fighting back in the new season bigger and better. 2018 out…

Connect with Wigley Racing for more news and information

Wigley Racing use these EBC Brakes products:

GPFAX Sintered Road Race Brake Pads

The GPFAX Formula Sintered Race pads are a direct replacement of the GPFA series. This formula is even higher in friction and created specifically to be used only on asphalt surfaces such as those found in race track conditions. Because of the super performance that they provide, these brake pads are a growing favourite choice of superbike racers. Another benefit of the GPFAX sintered material is that it now has even better heat cycling ability allowing the brake pads to be raced, cooled, then raced again.

Floating MC Discs/Rotors

EBC floating MC rotors or X & XC brake disc rotors as they are sometimes known, are ultra lightweight, best selling and best performance discs available for all modern racing sport bikes.

The rotors benefit from the EBC Brakes unique and patented S-Drive button system that features square sided rivets captured in square drive pockets on the hub and rotor. These are in place to allow the outer rotor blade to expand and contract freely under the heat of braking without suffering rivet lock.

Fully floating 2-piece rotor that allows outer ring to expand freely in response to heat. This reduces stress which in turn extends rotor life and reduces the tendency for rotor cracking during extreme use.

Drive bobbins machined from a single piece of stainless steel giving maximum strength and corrosion resistance. Stainless bobbins reduce the requirement for regular disc maintenance and ensures the outer ring continues to float freely even when used on the public road with corrosive salts and other road grime.

Each bobbin assembly features an anti-rattle spring clip ensuring silent operation when driving on the public highway

Friction rings are cast from high carbon G3500 alloy giving excellent wear properties and improved thermal capacity. All EBC disc rings are cast using the ‘centre split’ casting method, ensuring a balanced casting that will not distort under high heat, an issue common with cheaper ‘moulded out’ castings.

Replacement disc rings for EBC floating rotors are significantly less expensive than our major competitors.

‘Apollo Series’ Brake Calipers Additional Info

Apollo brake calipers utilise a 2-piece bolted design, incorporating high tensile 12.9 grade steel bolts for reinforcement of the caliper bridge section. Computer FEA analysis shows that the utilisation of high-tensile steel bolts to reinforce the bridge brings significant improvements in caliper stiffness compared to a mono-block design. A stiffer bridge section means less elongation during brake apply, giving a firmer and more responsive pedal feel, especially after a period of harder braking where the aluminium bridge of a mono-block design caliper softens appreciably with increasing temperature.

Unlike the vast majority of cast calipers, which are typically gravity cast, Apollo Series caliper bodies are machined from heat treated low pressure castings. Low pressure casting is a vastly more expensive production method than conventional gravity casting, but by forcing the aluminium alloy into the mould under pressure the consistency of the finished part is greatly improved. This gives EBC’s Apollo Series brake calipers a noticeable performance advantage over conventional gravity cast calipers, exhibiting higher overall strength and a comparable caliper body stiffness to forging.

Unlike most painted calipers on the market, Apollo brake calipers are not painted using a powder coat finish. Powder coat cracks and discolours with exposure to high heat, meaning that powder coated calipers look great out the box, but the colour quickly fades away in use. We don’t just want Apollo calipers to look good in the box, we want them to look great for years to come, that’s why EBC finish every caliper using our advanced high-temperature Teflon™ polyester coating process. This top-coat paint system is similar to what’s used in the cookware market on the underside of pans and it gives a durable, fade resistant coating that’s easy to wipe clean and ensures that Apollo calipers will look great for years to come.

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